Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Located at 204 Orange Ave, Long Beach, the chef is getting to know the residents of the neighborhood one plate at a time. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Jason Witzl knew a lot of local eyes would be on him when he opened Ellie’s on the corner of Second Street and Orange Avenue in Long Beach, the location of the beloved neighborhood staple At Last Cafe, which closed earlier this year.

“It’s a ton of pressure. We opened the restaurant very quickly. At Last Cafe closed on a Sunday, we came in on a Monday and opened 30 days later,” said the 33-year-old Whittier native who opened his new restaurant with wife Alexandra Witzl.

While At Last had a hometown diner feel with spruced-up classic comfort food raging around $8-$13, Ellie’s is more upscale with white tablecloths and pastas ranging from $14-$17.

Yet Witzl knows comparisons are inevitable.

“We’re immediately pigeonholed by a diner who thinks you are not going to be as good as the place they had before… at that point you have to convince them you’re as good or better,” he said. “It’s a ton of pressure. I have nothing but me and my staff to make sure we live up to that standard.”

But he also has an impressive culinary background and the experience to convince locals that Ellie’s which he named after his grandmother, could be as good or better than their old beloved spot.

Witzl was19 when he enrolled in culinary school at Los Angeles Trade-Technical college and went on to work at some of the most respected restaurants in the city, starting at the celebrated Campanile when he was 24 before moving on to the Michelin-starred Water Grill in downtown L.A.

From there, he went to Spain and worked at the triple-Michelin-starred Restaurante Martin Berasategui before returning to the U.S. to work at the James Beard-nominated Manhattan Beach Post.

At Ellie’s, which Witzl describes as Southern Italian/California cuisine with food that leans more toward the comfort side, the seasonal menu is defined by pasta made in-house and ingredients sourced weekly from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. This dish is winter squash on the menu. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Clockwise from left is winter squash, grilled bread, chittara pomodoro and garganelli. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Handmade pasta for the Garganelli signature dish. Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

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Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. This dish is garganelli on the menu. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Fresh handmade cavatelli pasta is rolled out on a wooden block at Ellie’s , a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. From left is winter squash, grilled bread and chittara pomodoro. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Witzl making the restaurants signature dish, chittara pomodoro. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Witzl making the restaurants signature dish, chittara pomodoro. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Witzl making the restaurants signature dish, chittara pomodoro. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Witzl making the restaurants signature dish, chittara pomodoro. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Witzl making the restaurants signature dish, chittara pomodoro. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Witzl making the restaurants signature dish, chittara pomodoro. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

Ellie’s is a new restaurant that just opened in Long Beach by chef Jason Witzl who is making handmade pastas at this Southern Italian restaurant. The venture is a tribute to Witzl’s Grandmother Eleanor. Located at 204 Orange Ave, Long Beach, the chef is getting to know the residents of the neighborhood one plate at a time. Long Beach November 28, 2017. Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG

“We take simple ingredients and we let them do the talking and we try to make everything as well as we can without really manipulating the products too much,” he said.

One of his menu’s defining dishes — and one of Witzl’s personal favorites — is the Chittara Pomodoro, made with roasted garlic, tomatoes, shallots, burrata and oregano.

“You can’t rush it. If the tomatoes aren’t right and the onions aren’t right it’s never going to be that dish. I think our whole kitchen has really taken a lot of pride in that dish,” he said.

Another standout on the Ellie’s menu is what Witzl calls “Thanksgiving on a plate” — even though there’s no turkey as the star.

Made with roasted winter squash, puffed quinoa, cranberry gastrique, Crescenza cheese and caper pestata (pureed capers and basil), it’s a compact dish that packs a ton of flavors in one plate.

“I think Thanksgiving is best when all ingredients are mixed together on one plate and you make a sort of (mix) of flavors. Once you start eating this and start mixing it around that’s what you get,” he said.

And while it sounds kind of simple at first, another dish that highlights Witzl’s philosophy about respecting the ingredients and not wasting anything in the kitchen is his Grilled Bread.

The Grilled Bread was born out of the months Witzl spent doing pop-ups to develop his menu.

The thick slices of sourdough bread are served with homemade pickles and a pork butter made from the reduction of pork cheeks used in his Agnolotti pasta dish (which is made with chicken liver, raisins, pine nuts and roasted apples).

“We take that liquid and reduce that, it’s braised down and whipped into butter and that becomes what you dip your toasted bread into,” he said.

Besides the expectations from locals, Witzl also has to deal with another issue when it comes to his new Alamitos Beach neighborhood — parking, since the area is known for being a notoriously difficult place to find a spot.

So he wants the food to be good enough to make the hassle of parking worth it for his customers.

“I never want them to remember the parking. So we have to be exquisite from the time they walk in the door to when we pour the wine to when they have dessert,” he said.